TELEVISION REVIEW; What Makes Rush Limbaugh Tick So Loudly

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It is the time of the Limbaugh in the land, and tonight "Frontline" offers a portrait of the biggest thing on talk radio. The hour begins with a lonely lad in Cape Girardeau, Mo., and ends with the Republican Party victory in November, which is here credited largely to the host with the most: 20 million listeners a week plus a television show, two best-selling books, his image lording over Times Square, a commercial for The New York Times and the courtship of aspiring Presidential candidates.

Given the left-leaning reputation of "Frontline" and the muckraking programs the producer, Stephen Talbot, has done for the Center for Investigative Reporting, one might have expected a good old hatchet job. But this chronicle of Rush Limbaugh's career, though far from celebratory, is appreciative of the man's broad appeal and his talent with a microphone.

Within the bombast and self-promotion, Peter J. Boyer, the evening's correspondent, finds a funny entertainer who has made his way by inflicting on liberal icons and causes the sort of pain that liberal television comedians have visited on Republican Presidents since Richard M. Nixon. ("Did you know," he is heard asking his audience, "that the White House drug test is multiple choice?")

As Mr. Boyer puts it, Mr. Limbaugh gave "a language and a voice" to people (especially white, middle-class men) who were feeling beset by government programs, which have been acclaimed in the news media and run at their expense for the benefit of others. Last year, turning from his favorite perennials like political correctness, affirmative action and feminism to hot political battles, Mr. Limbaugh did much damage to the Clinton Administration's crime bill and helped sink its lobbying bill.

You can see him in good or bad form on what he called an Excellence Tour, which featured a condom-covered microphone: "Yes, it is lubricated. Yes, my hands are greasy. But I do it because I care. This, ladies and gentlemen, is safe talk." Mr. Limbaugh appropriates the frankspeak that the sex-education cadre and others on the liberated left have so enthusiastically promoted and ridicules their intentions and pretensions.

But he is not at his most comfortable or most effective as a stand-up gagman. A clip from his failed CBS tryout finds him perspiring and at a loss for humorous words before a live audience not made up exclusively of his fans, or "dittoheads" as they proudly call themselves. His kingdom is the radio studio, where he talks at an unseen audience that does not talk back, except to praise him.

In some ways Mr. Limbaugh makes an odd conservative champion. His condom act must offend some on the religious right, and his two failed marriages can be no model for the family-values crowd. Nor, with all his bluster, is he a natural Middle American glad-hander. Relatives and associates attest to that. There is some psychologizing here, smacking of afternoon television, about his insecurity, lack of self-esteem and sensitivity to criticism. They may hold him back from running for President, but being worth around $25 million should compensate for a lot of insecurity.

Critics point out that Mr. Limbaugh is not a fastidious reporter or innovator or analyst of ideas. But that is like asking for yogurt in a sausage shop. The critics, particularly Paul Bergala, a Clinton adviser, are painfully on the defensive; their laments that Rush just doesn't play fair sound wimpish. Limbaugh haters seem to be praying for the advent of a rival spouter, but the notion advanced here that a Mario M. Cuomo talk show might serve as a counterforce is unintentionally humorous.

The recent Republican conquest of Congress is presented tonight as a demonstration of the power of a singular performer who has parlayed the nation's mood and radio's reach into a profitable and formidable political weapon. That is not unprecedented; Walter Winchell delivered a considerable punch during his radio reign. But in the Limbaugh phenomenon we may be seeing the changing play of politics on the information highway, where the hour's enthusiasms and angers can be instantly exploited in a virtual town hall, with momentous consequences. FRONTLINE Rush Limbaugh's America PBS, tonight at 9. (Channel 13 in New York) Written by Peter J. Boyer and Stephen Talbot; produced by Stephen Talbot; edited by Wendy Wank; Holly Ziemer, associate producer; Rick Young, reporter; additional reporting by Jim Mokhiber; research by Steve Rhodes. For "Frontline": Michael Sullivan, senior producer; David Fanning, executive producer. Peter J. Boyer, correspondent.

A version of this article appears in print on , Section C, Page 13 of the National edition with the headline: TELEVISION REVIEW; What Makes Rush Limbaugh Tick So Loudly. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe